Which metering to use in night scene?

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Hi All

My camera has all the available metering patterns (Spot, Center weighted, Evaluative, Multi spot). Most of the time I use spot metering to take portraits in normal lighting situation and I have been successfull in that. Now I have an assignment for taking photograph of an illuminated shopping complex in night. I wonder which of these metering pattern to use? If I decide to use Spot, I dont know where to take the reading from? Or should I use Evaluative and pray to my camera for giving me a good photo? I am considering to shoot it in two different times. One at dusk with a low light sky and another in night with full dark sky. What is your opinion and what cares should I take to get a better photograph?

Thanks for your reply!

John

-- John Peter (eosquestions@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002

Answers

I'm sure you'll get more informed answers than mine, but here goes: I would take a few spot readings of the complex - multi spot. Then bracket. Use a tripod, of course. I haven't done this, so hopefully you'll hear from someone who has, but multi spot & bracket would be my approach.

-- Derrick Morin (dmorin@oasisol.com), April 05, 2002.

You need to find out how and why your meters do what they do. This is critical. If you figure that out you'll never have questions like this again. That said, I would use spot on the part I want exposed at certain value, either over, under or spot on as the film sees it. You prolly can get a fine exposure with evaluative, too. The rule is bracket plenty, .5 stops a full stop on either side of the meter reading. Film is cheap when the shot has potential to be a good one.

-- Chris Gillis (chris@photogenica.net), April 05, 2002.

Best to rely on spot metering--but you have to decide if you want the highlights blown out (when the lights over-expose and seem very large in your picture). If you do, meter for something darker, something between the bright and the dark.

The evaluative meter would very likely give you a dark picture, because it would be fooled by the bright lights.

Otherwise, use a tripod and bracket, just as people have said.

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), April 06, 2002.


I found the most appropriate metering was to spot meter but to choose areas on the building that were illuminated by the lights and roughly mid-range in colour but avoid letting the lights themselves appear in the meter's scope. Also, as suggested do bracket quite widely. Significantly different exposures can give good results but with quite different aspects of the image dominating.

-- Derek Linney (dlinney@aol.com), April 07, 2002.

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